


Welcome Home

by CatsRecipehs



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Couple, Insecurity, Kissing, Love, M/M, Malec, Malec Monday, Moving In Together, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 21:53:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12329616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatsRecipehs/pseuds/CatsRecipehs
Summary: Magnus has something important to ask his boyfriend, but will nerves get the better of him?





	Welcome Home

Fall had arrived in Brooklyn. The air that night was crisp and soft breezes provided a welcome change from the warmth of the sun in the earlier hours of the day. The moon was waxing and almost full, something that made the handsome warlock smirk. Alec looked best in the moonlight. 

Magnus Bane stood on the patio of his penthouse, martini glass in hand as he looked out over the city. Tonight was important, and he felt a nervousness in the pit of his stomach that he hadn’t felt in over a century. He had successfully convinced his Shadowhunter boyfriend that work could wait until the morning, with Alec agreeing on an 8:00 pm arrival time.

Magnus checked his phone. 7:55 pm. He walked towards the other end of the balcony, finishing his drink and setting his glass down on a table before he clasped his hands together to begin a sudden pep talk. “Alright Magnus. It’s not a big deal. Just…ask him, and he’ll do that adorable thing he does when he’s caught off guard and then…he’ll say yes. And…everything…will be fine…” he said aloud, tapering off at the end as he slowly let his hands fall back down to his sides. “Or…it won’t be,” he whispered now, as if saying it any louder would make the negative possibility real enough to necessitate a plan. 

He reached again for his phone. 7:57 pm. The warlock scoffed at the device as if it were the creator of time itself, about to say something to it when in the distance a crunch of leaves could be heard. “Alexander…” Magnus said aloud. Of all the things in the world that could be responsible for the noise, all but one were eliminated in man’s mind: that of his lover’s arrival. He wasn’t wrong.  
A quick check in the mirror to ensure every hair was in place and Magnus was at the front entrance of his penthouse just in time to hear the familiar knock. He took a deep breath, then opened the door. 

“Alexander,” Magnus said in a softly seductive voice, a slow smile forming over his lips.

“Hey,” Alec replied, returning the smile with gentle but tired eyes. It had been a long day at the Institute. It was always a long day, but he tried his best never to drag it over to this place that was fast becoming his sanctuary. 

Magnus could sense the stress and tension in his lover, but he made no mention of it. It was their mutual understanding. As Alec made his way inside, Magnus moved to the taller man and placed a hand on his chest, fingers gripping into his soft cotton t-shirt as he leaned in for a slow but deep kiss. 

Alec returned the gesture, feeling his body relax into the touches of his lover. If all they ever did was kiss, he would be happy. He had no idea how many emotions could be expressed without words until the first night they spent together. “I’m early, did you kick everyone else out already?” he asked with a grin as their lips parted, his head moving back only enough to see into his lover’s eyes. 

“Oh yes, threw them off the balcony,” Magnus responded with a smirk. “Seriously, Alexander. Who do you think I have over all the time?” he asked, releasing his boyfriend from their embrace to move over to his beverage cart. It was always time for a drink. 

Alec chuckled and then shrugged. “I don’t know…you have tons of friends,” he said as he slipped out of his jacket, tossing it onto a lone armchair before he sat down on their favorite couch. “Look, your phone is being messaged right now.” 

Magnus looked down at the pocket of his jacket that held the device. Indeed, he was getting a variety of messages. He sighed as he brought two of his special martinis over to the Alec, choosing to sit in his lover’s lap instead of beside him. They were passed that formality by now. “Correction, Alexander. I have a lot of people who want me to do things for them who happen to have my number,” he said, trying not to roll his eyes as he handed the other man his drink. “Friends are…much harder to come by.”

Alec took the martini and sipped from the glass before he set it down on a table in reach to his right. He welcomed his lover into his lap, his free arm wrapping around him in a way that was strong and protective but filled with a warmth like no other. “Well…you’ve got me,” he said with a smile.

There were times when Alec smiled that made Magnus’s thoughts freeze, and this was one of them. How could something so perfect exist in the world? Something so pure, so perfectly flawed, so handsome and unspoiled by the hardships of living the same mistakes over and over again. It was in these times that Magnus was most self-conscious. How could he possibly deserve this man, this Nephilim?

“Magnus?” Alec whispered.

“Oh…yes, of course I do have you…” Magnus smiled as he snapped himself out of his insecurities, leaning in to place a kiss on Alec’s cheek. “I think you and Chairman Meow are all I need to live a happy life.”

This made Alec laugh softly, black hair dipping down in front of his eyes before he brushed it aside. “Right, that reminds me. When is the cat’s birthday party again? And are we celebrating in human years or cat years, because that’s going to really make a difference as to how many candles I get for the cake.”

Now it was Magnus’s turn to laugh. “Alexander, really,” he said, putting his drink down in order to pay full attention to the other man. “The party is next Saturday, and since you can’t remember I am handling all of the details. Besides, Chairman Meow is getting his own cake,” he said in all seriousness.

“Well…of course…” Alec said, trying not to laugh more at the seeming absurdity of it all. It was then that he caught something in Magnus’s eyes: a flash of an unexpected emotion hiding behind the scenes. It was…sadness? No. Loneliness.

Magnus was lonely. Lonely enough that throwing a birthday party for a cat was an acceptable way to bring people to him without them needing him for favors, all hidden behind the quirkiness that everyone accepted to be “Magnus being Magnus”. 

Alec opened his mouth to say something but Magnus stopped him with a finger. He knew he had been discovered, and he almost felt ashamed of himself. He had never let his emotional guard down so much with any of his previous lovers, but before he could try to salvage his pride, he felt Alec’s hand cupping his face. 

“Hey. You said in your messages earlier you needed to ask me something. What is it?” 

Magnus’s eyes softened, his face relaxing as he heard Alec changing the subject. Now was as good a time as any. “Alexander,” he said, the man’s name flowing off his lips as it always did, but there was nerves underneath, bubbling with anxious caution. Good thing he practiced this speech, or he wasn’t sure he would even get it all out. “Ever since that first night we met, I felt a connection to you. We called it trust, remember? But it was so much more than that. We can both feel it, like electricity in the air around us. And when that spark is not here, I feel…well the air is…I…” Magnus faltered. Stammering his words was something so foreign to him he wasn’t sure what to do, and in a sudden moment of panic he stared straight into Alec’s eyes, his own flashing to deep gold as they changed to a more feline state. 

Alec blinked in surprise himself, but kept his hand on Magnus’s cheek to silently tell him that it was alright. He had never been afraid of Magnus’s mark. He certainly was not going to start now. “The air is empty when you’re not around, like the life has been taken from it,” he said.

“Yes…exactly like that,” Magnus responded, his confidence coming back to him. “Alexander…would you do me the honor of moving in with me?” he asked, the words making their way effortlessly from his lips now, a hand trailing through the loose pieces of his lover’s hair. 

“Magnus…” Alec whispered, a shy smile forming over his lips as he made that adorable face he always made when he was caught off guard, just as the warlock had predicted. He looked down at the necklaces that dangled on his lover’s chest, then let his gaze roam around the penthouse before settling back down on eyes that had now turned their normal brown. “That’s a big step.”

Magnus was prepared for this as he knew that Alec was an over thinker. If he did not get an answer from him now, it could be days or even weeks of waiting for the dark featured Shadowhunter to make his rounds to Izzy and Jace, gathering their opinions on his life choices. The warlock moved both of his hands behind his neck, unfastening a chain that had blended in with the assorted jewelry of the day. He pulled it from his chest, and before Alec could ask what was happening, Magnus had fastened the necklace around his lover’s neck. “Take this,” he said simply.

Alec looked down at what he was now wearing, using both hands to hold a key that dangled from the chain. Alec gasped softly as he turned the old fashioned skeleton key in his fingers, admiring the design, the craftsmanship and the deep blue sapphire that was set into the key’s head. He looked up quickly to ask a question, but Magnus already had an answer.

“It’s…not an actual key. You can’t put it in a lock, I mean. But the object itself will allow you access into the penthouse even if my wards are up. Besides, you needed a little…flare, Alexander,” Magnus said as he smirked softly. “It looks flawless on you.”

Alec looked from the key to his lover’s eyes. So much thought had gone into this, just like with every other moment that had passed in their short relationship. Magnus was always trying to make things special, memorable and new. He was always one-step ahead of Alec’s insecurities. He could almost hear Izzy screaming in his ear to say something. “Yeah…yeah it…it belongs on me, doesn’t it. I think I’ll keep it. Does it look alright with my high fashion t-shirt I found in Jace’s closet?” he asked with a grin.

Magnus felt a swell of emotion hit him in the instant of realization that the response was a 'yes', holding back tears as he laughed softly. “The perfect accessory,” he said before he leaned in, capturing Alec’s lips in a deeply passionate kiss that would express his feelings for him without need for rambling words. When he pulled back, he ran his thumb over Alec’s cheek. “Welcome home, Alexander.”

“Home,” Alec nodded.

The lovers kissed again as moonlight filtered into the room, casting shadows across the walls that would now hold everything dear to Magnus Bane. Loneliness could no longer find a home in his heart, and the warlock could feel that the defeated emotion was quickly escorted out on one of those gentle night breezes. Fall, Magnus decided, was his new favorite season.


End file.
